Raptors don't work alone
by xt1me
Summary: Set before Jurassic World; How did Owen Grady end up training raptors anyway?


_Based on a prompt from a_ _commentfic meme by aceofannwn on dreamwidth._ _  
_

 _I really have no business writing this since everything I learned about the Sentinel is from crossover fanfics. But then again I don't know anything about the Navy or animal training either. So here we are._

 _If this inspires anyone feel free to run with it._

 _Thanks to my sister for proof reading it_

* * *

Owen Grady had grown up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. He never excelled in school and had no talents for anything but trouble. The knowledge that he was expected to grow old and die within a mile from where he was born _ate_ at him.

He wanted to find his own space. He wanted to travel.

So he signed up to the Navy.

His parents exploded.

He could later admit to himself it had been partially his fault. Springing his decision on them at the last minute when he was almost out the door.

His father took it as nothing less then a betrayal of the family. His mother, though she tried to be supportive, could never hide the fact that she thought he was throwing his life away.

He never managed to have another conversation with them since then that wasn't stilted and awkward.

But despite everything that happened, Owen could never bring himself to regret his decision.

* * *

He learned a lot in the Navy.

Planning, logistics, weapons. How to keep running even when it felt like your legs were going to fall off.

He fell into the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program by being in the right place at the right time after he finished Basic. While he knew he was good with animals from a few summer jobs, he had never thought of working with them. It was probably one of the best times of his life. It was hard work but worth it.

He learned that sometimes dolphins could be dicks, sharks can be gentle and it was so much easier to learn stuff when he liked what he was doing.

It was thanks to the people in the program that he got his degree.

But good things don't last. The program was eventually downsized due to budget cuts and he was tossed back into the regular Navy. His own disappointment at this allowed him to be goaded into signing up to do "real" work.

That's when he learned what is was like to feel a life bleed away under his hands, what burning flesh smelt like, how to keep his breakdowns until he was in the shower.

He just never stopped learning in the Navy.

* * *

It was one of life's little irony's that despite all the close calls he'd had during his time in the military, the one that landed him in critical care the first time wasn't from enemy action. He hadn't even been on active duty. Instead he caught some weird disease after a weekend furlong. He had gotten a lot of ribbing over it until his team-mates found out how serious it was.

He spent what seemed like an eternity in isolation and came out the other side having lost nearly half his bodyweight and the very real worry that he was going insane.

He kept hearing things he shouldn't, seeing things much too far away. He'd go from being completely numb to feeling like the world was made of knives. He was losing time, zoning in on things until something knocked him out of it.

He kept it together long enough to get out of hospital. He had no idea how he managed it without someone catching on and the throwing him in a psych ward.

He wasn't going to risk his team while he tried to get his head together, but he didn't want to leave the Navy. He had nowhere to go.

So he put in a request to work with the Navy military working dogs.

* * *

Lieutenant Jessie Roberts, one of the other trainers, was so laid back she might have well have been lying down. They became best friends almost immediately.

She was the one that helped him after she caught him zoning out. She said it reminded her of an internet article about how all humans have senses as good as animals but our brains can't handle processing the information so it dumps it all. Owen figured that being sick really did scramble his head. Jessie just teased him that he wasn't using it for thinking anyway so it didn't matter if it was over-clocked.

Jessie helped him out a lot. She was the one that ordered the white noise generators "for the dogs". She helped him get the Laundry to change detergent to something that didn't make him want to scratch his skin off. She was the one who goaded him into doing the scent drills set up for the dogs when they got drunk. Who teased him with a dog whistle for a week to "help" him control his hearing.

It did annoy him sometimes when others would mistake them for a couple. Like they couldn't be friends, they had to want to bone each other. Which was stupid because they really weren't each others type. Owen always seemed to fall for sharp, classy, confident women with spines of steel that were way out of his league. (Not that it stopped him.)

Jessie mocked him for chasing after ice queens. He would just mock her back for liking messy artist types, even though he had met her girlfriend. (She was lovely.)

So Owen got a best friend, got his senses under control and got to work with animals again. He was having the time of his life.

He should have known it wouldn't last.

* * *

The real joke of it was the fact that they hadn't even been looking for weapons. The dogs they were using had been trained to detect narcotics not explosives.

They had two dogs doing their first live exercise with Buttons, Jessie's favourite, along as the seasoned veteran.

Owen never even saw who panicked and stared shooting. There was just suddenly gunfire.

Explosions.

Burnt fur.

Blood.

Pain.

Blackness.

* * *

Jessie died on the medivac while Owen was unconscious.

Owen had some burns down his back and two new bullet holes. He was expected to make a full recovery. Physically at least.

Maybe he was just numb but he had actually managed to hold himself together until he found out that the last dog had to be put down.

He lost it.

* * *

He got diagnosed with PTSD, got an honourable discharge and given strict instructions to see a shrink.

Maybe it would have worked if he could have brought himself to talk to the guy. But how could explain that he wasn't going catatonic he just couldn't stop listening to a conversation going on half a mile away. That yes, he was having nightmares, but the reason he was getting blackout drunk was because it was the only way he could shut things out enough to get some sleep. That he missed Jessie because she was his friend but he needed her because she was the only one that could make the world stop trying to ram itself into his head.

But he couldn't say any of that. So he just nodded alone to what the shrink said about survivors guilt (it was true after all) and just said nothing. He threw away the medication he was given when he found out he was allergic to it and didn't ask for more.

Then the shrink suggested getting a service animal and all Owen could see was the body of Buttons burning in front of him. He walked out and never went back.

* * *

That's when InGen found him.

In a black pit of despair, circling a drain with nowhere to go. Nowhere to go and no-one to turn to. Scrambling desperately to find any stable ground anywhere.

And they came to him with a job offer.

Training velociraptors for military use. Oh they didn't come right out and say that. The paper work all said things about testing intelligence and training methods but he could read between the lines. After all, why else offer the job to an obviously unstable ex-military animal trainer with nothing to lose.

It was a goddamn stupid idea too, there was good reason why they train _dogs_ for military use rather then, say, lions. Dinosaurs had absolutely no history with humanity and everything used to deal with them was going to be mostly guess work.

He was going to end up getting eaten.

But there was still a little inner twelve year old in him that couldn't help but think it was cool. And it was better then biting a bullet.

He signed up.

* * *

Keeping it together on the plane ride over had exhausted him enough to pass out in the quarters he was assigned. The first request he made was for some place to stay that was far away from everyone.

Owen knew he didn't make a good first impression with anyone when he got to the island.

He locked himself away and tried to go through the data he was given on velociraptors. He didn't talk any more than he had to. He didn't even try to remember anyone's name. He knew he should at least be trying to get to know who he would be working with but he couldn't bring himself to care.

He knew none of his old friends would recognise him now.

He hadn't smiled since Jessie died.

* * *

Then came the day the raptor eggs where due to hatch. Owen was in the nursery trying to pay attention to the scientist, Wu if the nametag was right, explain that it would be another few hours when he heard movement from one of the eggs.

Ignoring the others he went over to the egg. The label system said it was batch 1.7 egg B.

A crack appeared on the egg.

"Hey this one's hatching." He said. The other two stopped talking.

Owen couldn't help but focus in on the sound of the tiny heart beat and the little scratches. The crack widened.

Suddenly a claw burst though. The smell of the amniotic _fluid_ mixed with the dusty lizard like smell of the tiny creature as it forced the hole wider.

"Hey there girl" Owen said softly as he crouched to get a closer look at her. Her tiny blue striped head had managed to crack off the top of the egg and she looked up with piercing golden eyes.

"Well look at you." Owen carefully brushed a piece of shell off her head, feeling the smooth, firm texture of her leathery skin. "Do you want to come out the rest of the way?" He quickly jerked his fingers out of the way when she snapped at him. Chuckling, he bopped her lightly on the head, "Ah ah ah, no biting."

"Wow." Owen snapped his head up, he had forgotten the others were in the room. It was the other trainer he was going to be working with, Barry something. "Looks like you can smile after all." Owen suddenly felt guilty that he had forgotten his name. The young raptor gave high peeping screech.

"She's probably hungry," Barry said, "I'll go get her food."

"Yes," Wu agreed, "You should stay here Mr Grady. Since this one hatched early the others might do the same. You're the one they have to imprint on after all."

"Yeah, thanks." Owen turned back to the little dinosaur, listening as the other two left the room and walked off.

He didn't realise he was zoning out until another screech snapped his focus back. Glancing at his watch he realised he had only lost a few seconds. Not bad.

The raptor had finally managed to get all the way of the shell. Owen reach out to gently pick her up. "Hey there baby blue, do you think you could always snap me out that fast." She gave another peep. "I hope that's a yes. I'll make a deal with you, ok kiddo? I'll look after you, you look after me."

The raptor snuggled in his arms, tried from her ordeal. She seemed to accept he wasn't going to hurt her and promptly fell asleep.

"Aren't you adorable," he said softly, "You know when my shrink suggested a service animal I don't think this was what he had in mind."

Owen carefully sat down in one of the chairs in the room, listening to the soft steady breathing of his first charge. Relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever he sighed.

"Yeah, I think we'll be fine."

* * *

 _For the prompt: "_ _Jurassic World, Owen & Raptor Squad, guide/sentinel au. Owen is a sentinel without a guide (they're dead or dormant or whatever); instead the Raptor Squad is his anchor"_


End file.
